MAGNOLIA, Ark. – For the third time in the last 11 months, the University of Tennessee at Martin women’s rodeo squad earned a victory as the Skyhawks topped the standings at Southern Arkansas this weekend.
The UT Martin cowgirls achieved 430 points, winning by a wide margin over runner-up Missouri Valley College (190 points). The Skyhawk women, who won rodeos at Arkansas-Monticello (April 18-20) and Murray State (Nov. 16-18) in 2023-24, have now finished in first place in at least one rodeo in each of the last seven seasons.
On the men’s side, UT Martin was responsible for 325 points throughout the three-day rodeo. That ranked fourth in the team standings behind Southern Arkansas (780), Missouri Valley College (665) and Three Rivers College (420).
Three Skyhawk cowboys accrued points in calf roping, led by sophomore Owen Larrick. The Leesburg, Ohio native placed second in the short go (13.7), third in average (26.2) and fifth in the opening round (12.5). Caden Ussery additionally secured points in all three phases, posting times of 13.8 in the short round (third), a 26.7 average (fourth) and 12.9 in the first go (sixth). Cooper Stone split second in the first round with a time of 11.7 seconds.
Emma Kate Wilder’s first-round time of 2.4 seconds in breakaway roping was the best in the entire field.
In goat tying, Anna Wilder put forth a dominant effort as the sophomore out of Millington, Tenn. finished second in average (17.2), second in the short round (8.6) and third in the opening go (8.6). Her sister Emma Kate collected points in her second event of the weekend as her time of 8.4 seconds ranked second in the opening round.
A trio of UT Martin representatives brought home points in team roping. Bentley Anthony and Jace Stigall joined forces to finish third in average (15.8), fourth in the short round (7.4) and fifth in the opening go (8.4). Ussery also teamed up with Southern Arkansas’ Dakota Benight, placing sixth in both average (27.5) and in the short round (14.1).
Anna Wilder dominated the barrel racing event, sweeping first-place accolades in all three phases. She came away with impressive times of 16.17 seconds in the first round and 16.45 seconds in the short go for a 32.62 average. Allie Sherman additionally performed well in the event, splitting second in the opening round (16.47) before splitting fourth in average (33.4) and placing fifth in the short go (16.93).
Both Skyhawk teams will take a well-deserved break before concluding their fall campaign at Murray State on Nov. 14-16.
